Connection device for the frames of aerial vehicles and other structures.



No. 856,838. PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

E A. G. BELL & H. P. MoNEIL. CONNECTION DEVICE FOR THE FRAMES 0F AERIALVEHICLES AND OTHER STRUCTURES. APPLIOATIOH FILED 00124, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

q/Vihwom za I I j I I I No. 856,838. '7 I v PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

A. G. BELL & HUI. MONEIL. CONNECTION DEVICE FOR THE FRAMES 0F AERIALVEHICLES AND OTHER STRUCTURES. nrmonmx FILED 00-1224. 1900.

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Svwcu Tow M 1 1 fis 6 UNITED s Aras PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL AND HECTOR P. MoNEIL, OF WASHINGTON,-

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

CONNECTION DEVICE FOR THE FRAMES F AERIAL VEHICLES AND OTHER STRUCTURES.

noqesassa.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1907.

' To all whom/it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ALEXANDER GRA- HAM BELL and HECTOR P. MCNEIL, ofWashington, District of Columbia, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Connection Devices for the Frames of Aerial Vehicles andother Structures, which improvement is fully set forth in the followingspecification.

United States Letters-Patent No. 770,626, granted to Alexander GrahamBell, on the 20th day of September, 1904, discloses improvements inaerial vehicles and other structures, in which a number of elements,cells, or units, each in the form of a tetrahedral frame, are built upand directly connected at their corners. to form compound structuresadaptable to a great variety of structural uses.

, Our present invention is particularly designed to provide a cheap,light and easily applied joint or connection-devicefor securing.together' the meeting ends of bars or strips constituting. suchtetrahedral frames, and for directlyconnecting the corners of a numberof frames in forminga compound structure, moreparticularly inconstructing multicellular aerial Vehicles, such-as the wellknowntetrahedral kite.

Our invention can best be explained in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, illustrating its preferred embodiment as applied totetrahedral frames used in the construction of multioellular tetrahedralkites, in which drawings,

Figure 1 1s a perspective view from beneath;a tetrahedral kite in theposition it ordinarily takes when in flight; Fig. 2 is a top view ofparts shown at the top of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detai perspective view ofthe corner of one of the tetrahedral frames; Fig. 4 illustrates themanner of stacking winged tetrahedral elements or frames fortransportationand' storage; Fig. 5 is a view of our improvedconnection-de'vice', and Fig. 6 shows a blank from which the same isformed.

The aerial vehicle or kite shown in Fig.1 is

composed of four similar winged tetrahedral ce'llsa, b, e, (Z, connectedat their adjacent corners in such manner that the compound structureitself has the outline of a tetrahedron. Referring for example to Wingedcell c, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are six bars or 16 and 17 divergingupward from the bar 111 and connected at their upper corners by the bar13. The frame as thus covered on two sides, constitutes what is known asa As shown, two of the triangles forined wlnged element or a wingedtetrahedral cell. three of the six bars 10-15, come together at each ofthe four corners of the frame or element 0 where they are securedtogether by a connection-device of our presentinvention.Saidconnection-device may be read ily made from a blank, such asillustrated in Fig. 6, of suitable sheet-metal,- such as steel. Thewing-like edges of the three arms of this blank are bent upward alongthe dotted lines, "Fig. 6, and the blank is doubled on itself alongtransverse dotted line-c, and otherwise bent to the shape shown in Fig5. As shown in the latter figure, the connection-device finished andready for application to the bars to be joined, comprises threediverging troughits upturned side flanges a tooth, spur, or nib .23, anda projecting perforated lug, ear or flange 24 from which the three armsdiverge. Lug 24 projects in line with arm 20, as clearly shown in theseveral views of the drawings.

In D a plyin this connection-device, the ends of the t ree bars, 10, 12and 13,for example, in Fig. 3, *are placed one after another in theirrespective trough-like arms As clearly shown, the ends of' like arms 20,21, 22, each having on each of 22, 21 and 20, the spurs or nibs are bentor driven inwardly until their points enter or I are indentedintd thewooden bars. By the 'thefour corners of each tetrahedral frame,

element or unit. In assembling a number of such frames in a compoundstructur as shown in Fig. 1, the lugs 24 of .connection-de-' vicesatadjacent corners of frames, will come together, being preferablyoverlapped, and

use of afsuitable punch, we then preferably gether.

afford means by which the frames may be easily and securely fastenedtogether, as for exargi ple, by assing a piece of copper wire 26 1g.lugs and 2) t ough the perforations of the twisting the ends of the wireto- The lugs 24 Will overlap in different directions according to therelative positioning of the elements. As shown in Fig. 2, for example,they overlap longitudinally, whereas in all the connections at themiddle of Fig. 1, they overla transversely.

Fig. 4 shows a num er of winged tetrahedral elements, constructed withour connection-device, stacked upon each other, illustrating thefacility with which such elements may be compacted into a small spacefor transportation or storage.

Our invention is not of course restricted to the particular form offrames shown in the drawings, nor to the use of such frames in the.

construction of winged elements for aerial vehicles or kites.

What we claim is: j v

1. The combination with the meeting ends of a plurality of bars orstrips at the cornerof a frame, of a connecting device having arms orbranches one for securing the end of each bar, and a lug adapted to bejuxta osed to a similar lug at a corner of another rame to join saidframes corner to corner. 2. The combination with the meeting ends of aplurality of bars or strips atone corner of a polyhedral frame orelement, of a con necting device having a plurality of arms or branchesone for securing the end of each bar, and a lug adapted to be juXta osedto a similar lug at a corner of another ame tov Y join said framescorner to corner.

3. The combination with the meeting ends of a plurality of bars orstrips at one corner of a polyhedral frame or element, of a connectingdevice made of a single piece of sheet metal and having a plurality ofarms or branches one for securin the end of each bar, and a lug adaptedto e juxtaposed to a similar lug at a corner of another frame to joinsaid frames corner to corner.

4; The combination with the meeting ends of three bars or strips at onecorner of a tetrahedral' frame or element, of a connecting device havingthree arms or branches one for securing the end of each bar, and a lugadapt: ed to be juxtaposed to a similar lug at a corssesse ner ofanother frame or element to join said frames or elements corner tocorner.

' 5. The combination with the'meeting ends of a plurality of bars orstrips at the corner of a frame, of a connecting device havingtrough-like arms or branches one for embracing and securing the end ofeach bar.

6( The combination with the meeting ends of a plurality of bars orstrips at the corner of a frame, of a connecting device havingtrough-like arms or branches one for embracing and securing the end ofeach bar,

and a lug by which connection may be made to another frame.

7. The combination with the meeting ends of three-bars or stri s at onecorner of a tetrahedral frame or e ement, of a connecting device havingthree trough-like arms or branches one for embracing and securing theend of each bar, and a lug by which connection may'be made to anotherframe or element.

8. As an article of manufacture, a connecting device having a pluralityof diverging trough-like arms each adapted to embrace and secure the endofa bar,and a projecting lug at the junction of said arms.

9..As an article of manufacture, a connecting device having a pluralityof diverging trough-like arms each adapted to embrace and secure the endof a bar, and a projecting lug at the junction of said arms, saidtrough-like arms and lug being integrally formed from a single piece ofsheet metal.

10. A com ound structure formed of a plurality of e ements or frames,each frame consisting of a plurality of bars or strips, con nectingdevices for joining the meeting ends of the bars of each frame at thecorners'of the

